On a pristine white terrace in London's Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, there is a green door that might, at first glance, seem unremarkable.

But step beyond it, and one enters a world apart, a school with a story as rich as the community it serves.

This is St Mary's Ukrainian school, where almost with a story as rich as the community it serves.

This is St Mary's Ukrainian school,

where almost every Saturday since 1955,

generations of children have come to learn the language, history and culture of Ukraine.

It is the largest institution of its kind in the UK, a cornerstone for the Ukrainian diaspora in the capital. Before 2022, it catered for approximately 250 children of Ukrainian descent

living here. Then the full-scale invasion happened and everything changed.

I'm Francis Dernley and this is a special episode of Ukraine, the latest.

Today, you'll hear the voices of young people forced to leave their country within hours of the invasion, and learn about the scars that experience leaves behind.

You'll hear about the experience of moving to a foreign country,

where one has no firm grasp of the language or culture,

an experience, of course, mirrored for Ukrainian refugees throughout Europe,

and then the everyday challenges of growing up in the long, far-reaching shadow

of war.

Arriving at the school on a beautiful Saturday morning, one is struck by the energy of the place,

children of all ages dashing through the corridors,

the walls covered with colourful artwork. One piece is especially striking, a collage of the

world made up of hundreds of drawings of people, animals, sunflowers and homes, many of them

sketched in the Ukrainian colours of blue and yellow.

It is a collage of memories of life before the war and of a hopeful future for one without it.

The younger children have many such dreams.

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